"The High-Energy Universe" by Rene Ong (University of California-Los Angeles)
2,040 views · Published 4 September 2012 · 47:50 · Indexed 22 September 2026
Channel: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory · 2012 · Science & Technology
Interaction points are the tiny segments of particle colliders where high-energy particles actually collide. But they're not the only place to look for speeding bits of subatomic matter -- potential interaction points are spread throughout interstellar and intergalactic space. Anywhere a supernova is blowing apart -- or a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy is munching matter, or a pulsar is beaming out radiation -- there are accelerated particles that could hit each other. Even here on Earth, the high-energy particles known as cosmic rays are showering down toward the surface. In this video, recorded Aug. 24, 2012, at SLAC's 50th anniversary scientific symposium, UCLA's Rene Ong covers some of the untelescope-like telescopes now in use to detect these particles, including the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope -- essentially a particle detector in space -- and IceCube, the aptly named neutrino detector buried in the Antarctic ice. He also looks ahead to the Cherenkov Telescope Array, which will capture visible radiation -- Cherenkov radiation -- given off by particles as they travel at faster than the speed of light...in air.
